The potato seed production system in Russia has a relatively short history, compared, for example, with Western European countries, where it was formed several decades earlier. The organizational structure of seed potato production that took shape in the 60s of the last century in the USSR was represented by three main links.
The first link included the farms that produced the elite (elitekhozes), the second - the farms that propagated the elite (semkhozes), the third - the seed plots of collective farms and state farms that produced marketable potatoes.
The first normative and regulatory provisions in the field of potato seed production were developed and put into effect in the mid-60s, including the “Regulation on the potato elite” and the “Regulation on potato seed plots in collective farms and state farms” (1966). In the first two links, directly under the control of state agricultural authorities, the cultivation of elite potatoes was carried out in accordance with the "Regulations on the Potato Elite". Later, the “Regulations on Primary Nurseries for Growing Potato Elite” was adopted, developed by the Research Institute of Potato Farming and approved by the USSR Ministry of Agriculture (1971).
In the third link, in accordance with the "Regulations on potato seed plots in collective farms and state farms", reproduction seed potatoes were propagated (on-farm seed production) for use in the production of marketable potatoes. The seed plot was considered as the most important link in on-farm seed production, meeting the needs of farms in seed potatoes of released varieties for the production of marketable potatoes. The area of the seed plot was approximately 20-30% of the total potato crops on the farm.
In accordance with the seed-growing system established in the 60s, farms bought seed potatoes - the elite supplied from elite-growing farms, or high-quality potatoes of the first or second reproduction from seed farms (Fig. 1).
In organizing and carrying out work related to the harvesting, preservation and sale of elite and varietal seed potatoes, a large role was assigned to the Sortsemovoshch association. Structural subdivisions of the Sortsemovoshch association in the areas of their activity purchased and sold elite, varietal seed potatoes for variety renewal and variety change, as well as purchased, stored and sold republican and local funds of elite and varietal seed potatoes of zoned varieties.
Specialists of the "Sortsemovoshch" association, together with representatives of agricultural authorities and seed control laboratories, took part in the evaluation and acceptance of crops and elite batches prepared for sale. In addition, they carried out field surveys, approbation and tuber analyzes of varietal seed potatoes of the first reproduction, intended for harvesting and sale for variety renewal and variety change. According to official statistics in the USSR, by the end of the 80s, the total volume of seed potatoes of higher reproductions harvested and sold by the Sortsemovoshch association was more than 300 thousand tons, including more than 100 thousand tons in the RSFSR. It should be noted that until the beginning of the 70s, the production of elite potatoes in the RSFSR was extremely insufficient (25-28 thousand tons per year), and its quality needed to be significantly improved. The most intensive development of elite potato seed production in Russia dates back to the mid-70s and 80s. It was during this period that a radical improvement in the organizational and methodological foundations, technological processes and schemes of elite seed production began, and high rates of increase in the production of the elite were achieved (Fig. 2).
The organizational structure of potato seed production established in the RSFSR by the mid-70s, based on a more in-depth specialization of farms in the production of seed material of various stages of reproduction, included three stages:
- cultivation of super-super elite in specialized farms for primary potato seed production;
- the transfer of the super-super-elite to elite-growing farms (elitekhozes) and the acquisition of the elite in them by means of double reproduction;
- the transfer of the elite directly to collective farms and state farms for reproduction and production of commercial potatoes not lower than III-V reproductions (Fig. 3).
The established network of specialized farms for the production of seed potatoes made it possible already in the early 80s to increase the sales volume of the elite to 100-110 thousand tons, so that for every 100 hectares of commercial potato plantings on collective farms and state farms there were at least 5 tons of elite potatoes. An important role in this work was assigned to the All-Russian Production and Scientific Association for Potato Seed Growing "Rossemkartofel", which was established in 1976 as a structural unit within the Ministry of Agriculture of the RSFSR.
The association at that time included the Research Institute of Potato Farming (NIIKH), the NIIKH Breeding Center, the Experimental Design Bureau, experimental stations and experimental production farms of the NIIKH, as well as more than 50 specialized state farms located in 17 regions and 6 autonomous republics RSFSR. On the basis of 24 specialized farms, NIIKH laboratories for primary potato seed production were organized. The organization of the association "Rossemkartofel" made it possible to significantly improve seed production in those regions, territories and autonomous republics, where in total about 80% of the total Russian potato production was concentrated at that time.
In addition, the Rossemkartofel association provided a unified centralized management of the production of elite and varietal seed potatoes throughout the RSFSR, providing direct communication on potato seed production with local agricultural authorities and research institutions.
In the specialized farms of the Rossemkartofel Association, a good foundation was laid for a significant increase in the volume of primary seed production for zoned and promising varieties. In 1979, the laboratories of primary seed production of the NIIKH on the basis of specialized farms formed nurseries of primary seed production for 44 varieties of potatoes most in demand in production. According to the official data of the Ministry of Agriculture of the RSFSR, the area under cultivation of super elite potatoes increased from 149 ha in 1976 to 495 ha in 1979, and that of elite potatoes, respectively, from 382 to 1313 ha (Anisimov, 1981). This became possible thanks to centralized support from the state and the targeted allocation, according to the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR (1976), of significant funds that were directed to the development of the material and technical base of specialized elite seed farms in the largest potato growing regions and the creation in them of well-equipped for of that time, laboratory-greenhouse seed-growing complexes, as well as the construction of potato storage capacities necessary for these purposes.
Along with the development of the organizational structure of potato seed production in the period of the 70s and 80s, one of the urgent problems was the need for a radical improvement in the methods and optimization of elite potato seed production schemes. The established practice of those years was focused on clonal seed production. Usually, in most elite growing farms, the initial plants for primary seed production were selected in the nurseries of clones of the 1st year based on a visual assessment of plants in the field and laboratory analysis of leaf samples using the serodiagnosis method. However, part of the clones in the year of selection was quite often subjected to a new infection. At the same time, newly infected plants, when tested in the field, could give a negative reaction to viruses and, as a rule, they could not be detected and discarded in the year of infection. As a result, the plants selected in clones of the 1st year with a negative reaction to viruses, when tested in progeny, already the next year turned out to be infected to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the variety and conditions of the vegetation period of the previous year. More successful results were obtained using an additional check of infection of the selected clonal material in the winter period by the indexing method based on the "eye test" (growing plants from individual tuber eyes (indices) in laboratory greenhouse conditions). This made it possible to identify and reject the tubers of infected plants and clones with a much greater degree of reliability before planting them in the field.
The results of the work carried out at the All-Union Institute of Plant Protection (VIZR) showed that the use of the serological method according to a strictly defined system of clonal seed production in the conditions of the North-West region made it possible to obtain seed material free from infection of the most common viruses (X, S, M). Conducted by V.I. Sadovnikova (1965), special methodical experiments, in which tens of thousands of plants were analyzed, made it possible to draw a well-founded conclusion that in the conditions of the North-West, seed material obtained according to the clonal seed production scheme can be maintained for a long time in a state of free from viral infection (Fig. 4). It was also shown that the use of only negative selection by removing infected plants from plantings did not give such results.
In subsequent years, based on the results of research by NIIKH and the accumulated experience, it was found that it is more efficient to use not individual bushes selected in the nursery of clones of the 1st year, but individual healthy (free from infections) as the starting material for growing super-superelite. tubers selected in a special selection nursery with mandatory testing of each of them by serodiagnostics in the post-harvest control system. For the annual renewal of the selection nursery, for every 100 tons of super-super elite potatoes, it was recommended to plant about 4000 indexed tubers, which made it possible to significantly reduce costs and the number of analyzes performed.Rice. Fig. 5. Distribution and limits of selection of clones when evaluating the nest, depending on the planting patterns (variety Ramensky, 1979-1981)
For this purpose, indexed large tubers weighing 100 g or more were used to establish a selection nursery. The planting of such tubers was carried out with a row spacing of 140 cm and a distance between tubers in a row of 70 cm.
The results of studies conducted on the basis of the Zavorovo pilot production facility of the NIIKH showed that such a scheme for planting indexed tubers in the selection nursery ensured the maximum increase in the number of tubers in the crop per each initial tuber. So, in one of the experiments on the study of various schemes for laying nurseries for the selection of a new variety Ramensky at that time, the following results were obtained. In the control variant (planting according to the usual scheme of 70x30 cm, tubers weighing 60-80 g), 45% of bushes with up to 10 tubers per bush turned out to be harvested, which are usually discarded during selection. Of the remaining 55% of bushes, 47% had 11-20 tubers and only 8% had 21 to 30 tubers per bush.
In the experimental variant (planting according to the scheme 140x70 cm, large tubers weighing 100 g), only 11% of the bushes were not suitable for selection (with less than 10 tubers per bush). The remaining 89% of bushes had a much higher number of tubers, including 47% up to 20 tubers per bush, 24% from 21 to 30 and 18% from 31 to 50 tubers per bush (Fig. 5).
It is also very important to note that such a planting scheme created the most favorable conditions not only for the growth and development of plants, but also for the convenient conduct of thorough visual inspections of each plant during the period of vegetative growth, as well as the implementation of all necessary preventive and protective measures in the selection nursery.
In the process of further improvement of the system of potato seed production in specialized farms, a number of effective measures were taken to improve its quality for the main varieties released at that time and promising. To this end, the NIIKH developed and, as part of a wide production test, successfully tested a new technology for that time for obtaining and accelerated reproduction of the source material, improved by the apical meristem method, which gradually became the basis of the virus-free potato seed production system (Trofimets, Boyko, Anisimov, etc., 1990). The developed technology included the following main elements:
- preparation of tubers for isolating the apical meristems; checking their initial infection by enzyme immunoassay (ELISA); germination in the dark at a temperature of 35-37 ° C for one to two months;
- isolation of meristems with a size of 100-200 microns in a microbiological box under a binocular microscope with a scale grid at a magnification of 30-50 times and planting them in test tubes on a nutrient medium with a mineral base according to Murashige-Skoog with a high content of kinetin;
- growing plants in test tubes in a room with controlled conditions of temperature, humidity and illumination (temperature 23 ° C, air humidity 70%, illumination 5-10 thousand lux at a 12-hour light period);
- cutting of the obtained plants according to the number of internodes and planting of the cuttings on a nutrient medium in test tubes; the use of one cutting at the base of each plant to determine the infestation by electron microscopy and enzyme immunoassay (ELISA);
- repeated two-three-fold check of lines for infection with viruses by ELISA in the process of grafting;
- transplanting plants from test tubes to greenhouses to obtain a crop of tubers;
- verification of greenhouse plants by ELISA; the use of methods of accelerated propagation in vitro in order to obtain large batches of initial material necessary for seed production (rooting of the tops and axillary shoots of plants, planting cuttings with a limited feeding area - 6x6 cm, cuttings of sprouts after long-term germination of tubers, etc. .);
- field testing and propagation of greenhouse meristem clones in strict spatial isolation from any other potato plantations.
The application of the developed technology made it possible to obtain several thousand meristem clones within one year for their inclusion in the primary seed production of potatoes.
In the process of mastering in wide practice the technology of obtaining meristem source material for growing virus-free seed potatoes, NIIKH initiated special studies in the direction of improving the technological process of sequential reproduction of virus-free plants with testing of their offspring in primary field nurseries and bringing them to super-super-elite and elite. At the same time, tasks were set on the possibility of reducing the time for growing the elite (especially new and promising varieties), improving the quality and reducing the cost of its production. In order to solve the tasks set in 1972-1977, various variants of elite cultivation schemes were studied at the Seed Growing Department of the NIIKH: with a two-year clone test (traditional scheme), with a one-year clone nursery, as well as various experimental schemes with one-year clone selection and reproduction of the combined clone material using the tuber unit method.
Based on the results of studies conducted by V.N. Akatiev in the conditions of the Moscow region, using the source material improved by the apical meristem method, for widespread use in practice, a scheme for conducting elite seed production with a one-year test of clones was recommended, including:
- Field testing of meristem clones.
- Pre-propagation of pooled clones.
- Breeding.
- Cultivation of super-superelite.
- Cultivation of the super-elite.
- Raising an Elite.
The scope and sequence of work performed under this scheme of elite seed production are shown in Figure 6.
In order to achieve higher multiplication rates in nurseries, field testing of meristem clones and pre-propagation, a significant positive effect was obtained when growing healthy (infection-free) material using the tuber unit method. The essence of this method was as follows: before planting, tubers weighing from 60 g in each clone were cut into several parts so that the weight of each part was at least 30 g, with one or two eyes. All parts from each cut tuber constituting a "tuber unit" were placed in a separate bag. All bags with tuber units from one clone were placed in a separate container. Clones prepared in this way were planted in one row. When planting, the boundaries between the clones were divided, within which the tuberous units were also delimited. In each clone, tuberous units with a large number of seed parts were first planted, then with a smaller number (in descending order) and ended with uncut small tubers of a fraction of 25–50 g (Fig. 7). In practice, a simpler method was often used, when the tubers were cut several weeks before planting, leaving a connecting bridge in the center or at the base of the tuber. In this case, the parts of the tuber remained pressed against one another. Finally, the tubers were divided into parts directly at planting.
Additional containers for tuber units were not required.
During the growing season, plants were evaluated and tested for viruses visually and serologically. If at least one diseased plant was found in a tuber unit, it was completely discarded; however, the entire clone was not rejected, but only the corresponding tuber unit was removed; a group of plants derived from a single tuber. The data obtained showed that planting a clone nursery using the tuber units method for most varieties made it possible to increase the multiplication factor by one and a half to two times and, accordingly, significantly reduce the number of selected plants and clones and significantly reduce costs per 100 tons of super-super elite potatoes. At the same time, a significant effect was obtained from the replacement of the most labor-intensive nursery of clones of the second year with the nursery of preliminary breeding of the combined clones.
By analogy with the method of tuber units, based on the use of cutting planting tubers, in nurseries of primary seed production, when using meristem source material, other methods of increasing the multiplication factor have also become quite widespread in practice, especially growing potato seedlings from sprout cuttings in peat pots with subsequent planting them in the field, reproduction by layering, stem cuttings, etc. (Anisimov, Maksakova, 1975).
Based on comparative tests of various variants of elite seed production schemes, it was shown that when using the source material obtained by the meristem culture method in combination with clonal micropropagation, the production time for elite potatoes can be reduced to three to four years, which was especially important for accelerated reproduction and promotion. in the practice of new and promising varieties. In the pilot production farms of NIIKH in the conditions of the Moscow region, according to all the studied variants of experimental schemes, batches of super-super elite potatoes of high quality were obtained. The super-superelite, obtained according to the scheme with a one-year clone test, had, depending on the variety, from 90 to 99% of healthy plants, i.e. was almost the same as the super-super-elite, obtained according to the scheme with a two-year clone test. The level of productivity of the super-super elite of potatoes obtained according to various schemes was also almost the same and was in the range of 300-350 c/ha.
One of the most important directions in the development of the system of virus-free seed production of potatoes has become the organization of centralized production of initial virus-free material in large volumes to provide specialized farms for primary seed production. To this end, within the framework of the Rossemkartofel association, it was planned to produce a super-super elite on a virus-free basis in the amount of 7,5 thousand tons of 34 varieties that were most in demand at that time. According to the calculation presented in Table 1, in order to grow the planned volume of super-superelite from meristem source material using accelerated propagation methods in greenhouses of NIIKH, 1,2 thousand tubers were grown annually on an area of 400 hectares, harvesting each plant in a separate bag. The resulting material was transferred to the experimental production facilities of the institute, where they were planted in clonal nurseries - on an area of 8 hectares with strict observance of the established norms of spatial isolation of at least 0,5 km from plantings of lower classes of seed potatoes. During the growing season, all the necessary agrotechnical and phytosanitary measures were carried out with particular care in isolated field plots.
The resulting combined clone material in the amount of 160 tons was distributed to 24 special farms with laboratories for primary seed production (at the rate of 2 tons for the production of every 100 tons of super-super-elite). The total area of nurseries for preliminary reproduction in special farms for primary seed production was 40 hectares, from which 800 tons of seed material were obtained. The following year, this material was planted on an area of 200 ha in the breeding nursery and 3000 tons of tubers were obtained, which were used the next year for planting on an area of 750 ha and obtaining 7500 tons of super-super elite standard seed fraction (Table 1).
Table 1. Organization on the basis of NIIKH for specialized farms for primary potato seed production (Trofimets, Anisimov, Litun, 1978)
Volume of production | |||
Types of jobs | Performers | Landing area, ha | |
Obtaining meristem clones in the laboratory greenhouse conditions | Laboratory for obtaining virus-free initial material at NIIKH Laboratory for accelerated reproduction and field testing of virus-free clone material at the institute | 1,2 | 400 thousand tubers |
Field test clonal material with application tuberous method units | Laboratories for accelerated reproduction for field testing of virus-free clonal material at the Institute's OPH | 8 | 160 t |
Preliminary breeding united clones from application tuberous method units | Special farms for primary seed production PNO "Rossemkartofel" | 40 | 800 t |
Reproduction material | Also | 200 | 3000 t |
Cultivation super super elite | 750 | 7500 t |
According to NIIKH, when growing super-super-elite according to the scheme of centralized production of virus-free source material, due to improved quality, the yield in the elite and its reproductions increased on average for all tested varieties by 20-25%.
Since the 90s, in the course of the ongoing reforms in the agro-industrial complex, some of the special farms for primary seed production and elite farms have ceased to exist, and the volume of elite potato production has sharply decreased, which significantly complicated and largely disrupted the established system of periodic variety change and regular potato variety renewal in connection with an acute shortage of seeds of higher reproductions for farms with commercial production of potatoes. Only by the end of the 90s, the potato seed production system in Russia gradually began to be built on the principles of market relations based on the legislative and regulatory framework created by that time in the field of breeding and seed production of agricultural plants (Malko, Anisimov et al., 2003).
During this period, especially great attention was paid to the development and improvement of the regulatory framework in the field of quality control and certification of seed potatoes, taking into account the accumulated experience of the best world practices. This made it possible to largely optimize the regulatory requirements for the commercial quality of various categories of seed potatoes in the direction of their unification and approximation to modern internationally agreed regulatory requirements (Anisimov, 1999; Anisimov, 2005; Simakov, Anisimov, 2006, 2007)
After the introduction of the Law on Seed Production (1997) in the Russian Federation, a unified standardized seed potato classification system was established, including three categories of seed material: mini-tubers and super-super elite seed potatoes (second field generation) produced by the originator of the variety or a person authorized by him and intended for the production of elite seed potatoes.
Elite seed potatoes: seed potatoes (super elite, elite) obtained from the successive propagation of original seed potatoes.
Reproduction seed potatoes: seed potatoes (1-2 reproductions) obtained from successive propagation of elite seed potatoes.
A comparative analysis of the classification systems adopted in Russia and the EU countries shows that the category of original seed potatoes can conditionally be equated with the category of pre-basic seed potatoes (PB). Accordingly, the category of elite seed potatoes can be equivalent to the category of basic seed potatoes (classes SE and E) and the category of reproduction seed potatoes is comparable to the category of certified seed potatoes (classes A 1-2). At the same time, when comparing comparable categories in terms of the number of field generations of seed potatoes in the Russian Federation and EU countries, significant differences can be clearly seen (Table 2).
Table 2. Comparison of comparable categories of seed potatoes by the number of field generations in the Russian Federation and EU countries
Seed potatoes | Number of generations | Notation |
Russian classification system | ||
Original (OS) | 2 | PP-1 and SSE |
Elite (ES) | 2 | SE and E |
Reproductive (RS) Total Generations | 2 6 | RS1-2 |
Classification in EU countries | ||
Prebaseline Baseline Certified | 4 3 2 | PB – PB 4 S, SE, E A1 – A2 |
Total Generations | 9 |
In the modern Russian classification system for seed potatoes according to GOST 33996-2016 “Seed potatoes. Specifications and Methods for Determining Quality” the maximum number of field generations should not exceed 6 breeding stages, including for the category OS - 2, ES - 2 and RS - 2 generations. In the EU countries, according to the recommendations of the European Seed Association (ESA), a maximum of 9 field generations is allowed, including in the category of prebasic seeds - 4, basic - 3 and certified - 2 field generations (Anisimov, 2007; Simakov, Anisimov 2008).
In a general view, the modern scheme of the successive stages of the production of original, elite and reproduction seed potatoes is shown in Figure 8.
The main advantage of the modern organizational structure of seed production presented in the diagram is that all three of its structural blocks of the successive stages of the production of original, elite and reproduction seed potatoes are inextricably linked by direct links. This opens up new real opportunities for the development of the most effective forms of cooperation between all participating entities, including specialized scientific organizations and business structures.
In modern conditions, the further development of large-scale potato production is impossible without a well-established system for providing potato-growing agricultural enterprises, peasant (farm) enterprises and individual entrepreneurs with varietal high-quality seeds of elite classes and higher reproductions. In this regard, the increase in production volumes and a radical increase in the quality of the original and elite seed potatoes is becoming one of the key priorities for the stable and profitable management of the potato industry.
The current situation with the use of the existing potential of domestic potato varieties requires an accelerated increase in the production of seed material. Thus, the adoption of effective measures to modernize the material and technical base of potato seed production and the creation of the necessary infrastructure for selection and seed production centers are becoming one of the most urgent tasks in the development of potato production in Russia. At the same time, the successful implementation of integrated scientific and technical projects (KSTP) carried out within the framework of the Subprogram "Development of selection and seed production of potatoes" of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Agriculture for 2017-2030 will be of great importance. Successful implementation of key priority decisions in this area in the near future will greatly contribute to the innovative development of the industry, ensuring stable gross potato production, creating modern logistics systems for promoting the best varieties from Russian originators to the market, reducing import dependence and ensuring food security in Russia.